–not your momma's goulash–

She’s an Uptown Girl

I almost feel a little silly posting about jackets today since we’re still in long-sleeve weather this week (update: I just went outside and it is COLD!). I grew up in Connecticut, and I remember that snap of cold air that swept through in October every year. Not so in Virginia! It’s definitely slower paced here. And beautiful!

Anyway, I am always so excited for Fall so it’s no surprise to me that I had this corduroy and flannel jacket for Ellery whipped up by the first week of September.

The Uptown is a reversible hooded jacket that closes at the top with one button. It has a curved yoke, and little gathers in the center back, at the top of the sleeves, and in the center of each front panel. Small, but sweet details. This is the ‘Big Uptown Girl’ for ages 6-10, but there is a sister pattern (aptly named the ‘Little Uptown Girl’) for sizes 0-5. I sewed a 6 for my 5 1/2 year old and the fit is spot on.

Ellery hasn’t been able to wear this yet since for more than 5 minutes since it’s still warmish out. Actually, I didn’t originally plan on lining this with flannel, but once I put the two fabrics together (corduroy from Jo-ann, and this Anna Maria flannel), I was kind of feeling it. And then I decided to ‘go big or go home’ by using fusible fleece inside instead of the suggested lightweight interfacing. Why? I dunno… but there’s a heft to this little coat that is pretty darn perfect.

I apologize that you can’t get an idea of what this looks like from the front. Ellery was in total silly mode while I tried to take these photos.

Girl WOULD NOT TAKE DIRECTION FOR SQUAT. There goes her child modeling career.

We still aren’t totally sure about the button (see, no buttonhole yet?). The one below is a basic wooden one that I painted gold. I’m still on the lookout for the perfect one- I’ve even raided my mom’s gazillion color-coded button jars and could not settle on one. Though I did pocket some other cool ones when she wasn’t looking. Thanks Kate! 😉

Back to Ellery being in silly mode. She thought it’d be amusing if she took a sip of my coffee.

She could barely swallow it since she was giggling so much.

In the middle of sewing this jacket I knew it’d be a while until she could wear it, so I quickly started another in some lighter-weight fabrics.

Some plum pinstripe from Jo-ann (I think linen-like?) and an old stash favorite, like 3 years old, some sort of no-name cream colored poplin with stars on it.

It was so easy to put together since I had the pattern handy. I think I sewed most of this in under 2 hours. And that was with a toddler at my feet.

The weight of this one has been perfect for brisk mornings on the way to school.

I highly recommend this pattern to someone who’s had a few successfully completed patterns under their belt. The directions are short and sweet- just the way I like ’em. No, telling you to iron after each little step, or to trim your seams- something I was surprised about at first, but really that becomes common sewing sense once you’ve got the all of the basics down.

Here’s Ellery trying to button it with her eyes closed.

Whoops.

Gotta work on that.

That awesome button above is acrylic with glitter in it. She’s pretty into it.

I should mention that I was on the hunt for a little jacket pattern like this for ages, and was inspired by seeing Gail’s (her post shows a Little Uptown and the Serendipity coat- another from Make it Perfect) and Carolyn’s (hers is quilted!) versions within weeks of each other.

Post navigation

26 thoughts on “She’s an Uptown Girl”

Oh, Erin, I love these!!! And you made two! I’ll have to go check out this pattern, a quilted version sounds great. It was 17 degrees this morning! I love that you are waiting for just the right button, too, I totally get that 🙂 Your girl is such a cutie, I always love your photoshoots.

i love it! you did a fabulous job. i love the fabrics you chose! we’re in texas (from the midwest) and my kids (and me!) are the biggest wimps now. it was 68 degrees one morning and they were in winter jackets. we’re soft.

I love them both!! It’s funny, when I made my first one I also immediately made a second because I wanted her to be able to wear it right away. Sign of a good pattern, right? And the fusible fleece – brilliant! I’m doing that next time. Great fabric choices, too – I kinda love that no-name starry stuff! So glad you made this pattern 🙂